MDI girls’ stock rises with key victories

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As most coaches do before games, Mount Desert Island girls basketball coach Chip Taylor gathered his team together for a pep talk prior to Saturday afternoon’s matchup against Caribou.

Taylor was concerned about a letdown after Friday night’s huge win over Presque Isle, a 56-55 double-overtime victory that marked the Wildcats’ first regular-season loss since the 2002-03 season.

“I told them, the hardest thing to do is come back from a big game like last night where we expended so much energy and emotion. Come back today and try to have that same intensity,” Taylor said.

The Trojans must have played with intensity to beat Presque Isle, which was 9-0 entering the game and ranked first in the most recent Eastern Maine Class B Heal Point standings.

Presque Isle’s last loss came against Nokomis of Newport -a 52-18 defeat on Feb. 17, 2003. The Wildcats were 18-0 in 2003-04.

The Trojans’ game plan was to play a zone defense with special attention paid to PI point guard Natasha Deschene. MDI guarded her one-on-one on the perimeter and double-teamed her when she tried to go inside.

“Our goal was to hold Deschene from torching us. I’d rather have her distribute the ball and make somebody else beat us,” Taylor said. “They’re a good team and we just got some of the lucky bounces.”

Presque Isle’s Katie Delong hit six 3-pointers for 22 points and Deschene did have a 3-pointer, but it was her only basket of the game.

Meanwhile, Katie Hodgdon, whom Taylor said had been tentative on offense in regulation, scored the game-winning basket with 10 seconds left in the second overtime.

Kelsey Stratton scored 17 points for the Trojans, and Amanda Young added 11. The two combined for five 3-pointers.

“We had some kids step up and that makes a big difference,” Taylor said.

The win over Presque Isle will likely give the Trojans a huge boost in the Heal Point standings, too. Taylor said he’s hoping for a home preliminary game for the playoffs.

As for a letdown Saturday, Taylor needn’t have worried. Although Caribou made it close in the end, MDI still emerged with a 33-31 win and is now 6-4.

“This weekend was a big test for us,” he said. “We wanted to come out of this weekend at least .500, and to win both games is huge.”

The Wildcats didn’t stay down for too long. They bounced back Saturday afternoon with their own point-worthy win, a 46-39 victory over Ellsworth, and defeated Hermon 44-41 on Monday.

Selander narrows down choices

Caribou senior Monica Selander is considered to be one of the top basketball players and track and field competitors in the state. Now all she has to do is decide what she wants to do at the next level.

Selander, the 2004 Big East Class B basketball Player of the Year and a second-team All-Maine pick, has been in touch with NCAA Division II schools St. Anselm (New Hampshire) and Bryant University (Rhode Island) and Div. III University of Rochester (New York) about basketball.

A standout in jumping and throwing events for the Caribou track and field team, she has also been talking to the coaches at the University of Maine.

Selander won the high jump, javelin and discus at the 2004 Class B outdoor state championships, helping Caribou finish third overall. She was an Aroostook County track and field all-star and second-team PVC Large Schools all-star in the discus and high jump.

“I went and visited [Maine], met with the coach, and he said with my distances I should be able to fit in fine,” she said, adding that she hopes to be able to make a decision soon.

Selander is getting attention for her basketball through her play with the Maine Northstars, a Youth Basketball of America team made up of some of the top players in the state. Her teammates included Toby Martin of Maranacook in Readfield, Amanda Byrne of Winslow, and Cony of Augusta’s Katie Rollins.

Bapst, Bangor in friendly rivalry

The two large-school cheerleading teams located in Bangor clearly have a friendly rivalry. And both teams have positioned themselves well for a run at the Eastern Maine championship, which will be contested Jan. 29.

The Class A Rams have won two straight competitions, the Big East Conference and Saturday’s Penobscot Valley Conference Large School meets.

The Class B Crusaders took second at PVCs and third at the Big East competition.

During Saturday’s PVC meet at MDI High School, the two teams frequently cheered for each other.

“I don’t know what it is, maybe it’s just being located in Bangor, but they’re really good, they’re good kids and their coach is really sweet,” said Bangor coach Stephanie Crane.

It’s no surprise the teams are close. Many of the girls went to middle school together and two of the Bangor cheerleaders, Sarah Coleman and Alise Jenkins, started high school at John Bapst but transferred to Bangor.

“We’re really supportive of the other teams, and I think we get that back,” Crusaders coach Jennifer Babcock said. “We have two girls who transferred, so that adds to that camaraderie.”

Jessica Bloch can be reached at 990-8193, 1-800-310-8600 or jbloch@bangordailynews.net.